Deep sea pile setting and coring vessel

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to an underwater, manned vessel useful for drilling in piles, setting anchors and taking samples of the bottom of a body of water. A conventional submarine vessel is modified to have a vertical passage therethrough. The passage contains a rotary table for rotating an anchor pile which extends through the vertical opening. Means are provided to circulate sea water down through the pile during drilling-in operations. Means are also provided to obtain cores from the sea bottom.

United States Patent Inventor George C. Howard Tulsa, 0kla.

Appl, No. 767,954

Filed Oct. 16, 1968 Patented Aug. 31, 1971 Assignee Amoco ProductionCompany Tulsa, Okla.

DEEP SEA PILE SETTING AND CORING VESSEL 11 Chins, 2 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 175/8, 175/58 Int. Cl E211) 15/02 Field of Search 175/5-10;61/69; 46

References Cited UNITED-STATES PATENTS 12/1950 Shannon 175/8 2,665,8851/1954 Gignoux 175/6 2,669,431 2/1954 Crowell 175/8 X 2,756,021 7/1956Townsend 175/9 X 2,783,970 3/1957 Gillespie 175/8 X 3,353,364 11/1967Blanding et al. 175/6 X 3,456,745 7/1969 Peri 175/5 PrimaryExaminer-James A. Leppink Assistant Examiner-Richard E. FavreauAttorneys- Paul F. Hawley and John D. Gassett ABSTRACT: This inventionrelates to an underwater, manned vessel useful for drilling in piles,setting anchors and taking samples of the bottom of a body of water. Aconventional submarine vessel is modified to have a vertical passagetherethrough. The passage contains a rotary table for rotating an anchorpile which extends through the vertical opening. Means are provided tocirculate sea water down through the pile during drilling-in operations.Means are also provided to obtain cores from the sea bottom.

ATENIEH AUGS] I97.

Hm 1 OF 2 6 INVENTOR.

GEORGE C. HOWARD ATTORNEY PATENTEU AUG31 iHh SHEET 2 BF 2 INVENTOR.GEORGE C. HOWARD ATTORNEY DEEP SEA FILE SETTING AND CORING VESSELBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention isconcerned with the drilling-in of anchor piles into the bottom of a bodyof water, taking of core samples therefrom and other related operations.More particularly, it is concerned with an underwater vessel which hasbeen modified to carry out these operations.

2. Setting of the Invention In recent years the search for and drillingfor oil deposits has greatly increased in offshore water-covered ares.In such exploration and drilling operations, there are many variedoperations required. Some of the necessary operations are the setting ofanchor piles in the ocean floor in water that may be several hundredfeet to 1,000 feet or more deep, and the obtaining of core samples fromthe bottom of such body of water. In the past, anchor pilings haveordinarily been set by drilling operations conducted from a vesselfloating on the surface of the body of water, or by driving the pilesinto the sea floor by extending the pile to the surface of the water andusing conventional hammer-type pile driver. Most commercial coringoperations have also been conducted from vessels floating on thesurface. Although these methods have been successful, as the water getsdeeper there are more and more problems involved such as, for example,the placing of an anchor piling at an exact location, or maintaining thedrilling vessel at a precise location in the open sea.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention concerns a modified submarinevessel for use in drilling in anchor piles, taking cores and relatedoperations conducted on the bottom a body of water. In a preferredembodiment, a submarine is modified to have a vertical passage extendingtherethrough. The anchor piles to be set are supported in this verticalpassage by remotely actuated slips. A bit is attached to the lower endof the pile. Located near the bottom of the passage is a rotary tablewhich is powered to rotate the pile. A flexible hose connects to theupper end of the pile so that sea water can be circulated therethrough.An anchor chain is secured to a slip which attaches it to the pile.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 illustrates'a preferredembodiment of the invention and illustrates, in a partly cutaway view,an anchor piling positioned in the vertical passage of the submarine;

FIG. 2 illustrates a modification of the device of FIG. 1 to facilitatecoring operations.

Attention is first directed to FIG. 1 which illustrates a submarinevessel 10. According to this invention the vessel is constructed tocontain a vertical passage 12 extending therethrough. Vessel can besimilar to any of a number of commercially available subsea vessels. Itcan be either self-sufficient, i.e., have its own power and air supply,or a multiple conduit line 14 can be connected to a support vesselfloating on the surface so that power and air can be brought to thesubmarine in a known manner. The vessel has a propeller or driving means16 and guide means including elevations 45 and rudders 46, or propelleror jet-driven, directionally controlled thruster 48, there beingtypically four, two on each side of this vessel, for example. Suitableobservation ports 18 and suitable lights 20 are provided.

A hollow pile 22 having a bit 24 at the lower end thereof is mounted inpassage 12. It is held in place by slips 26 remotely operated by meansnot shown. Slips 26 are rotatably mounted in well 12 as by hearingmembers 27, for example. It is Means will now be discussed for providingcirculating fluid through the pile. This includes a flexible hose 30connected through a swivel cap 32 on top of pile 22. A pump means, notshown but carried inside vessel 10, obtains suction through port 34 andpumps sea water through hose 30 to the pile down through the bottom ofthe bit where it returns up the annulus between the pile and theborehole wall and discharges onto the sea bottom 23.

When drilling operations have commenced, reaction from the rotating ofthe anchor pile must be counteracted. This is done by (l) by mass of thesubmarine and its resistance to rotation and (2) the suction of thecirculating pump through port 34 tends to rotate the vessel in adirection opposite the reaction force. If this is not sufficient,additional thruster means 48 in the form of jets or propellers tocounteract the reaction of the drilling operation can be provided.

In addition to rotating the bit 24, drilling progress is greatlyimproved by the addition of weight thereto. The addition of weight inthis case is obtained by deballasting vessel 10. Then the effectiveweight of the vessel 10 is transferred through slips 26 to pile 22 andto bit 24. The slips, while rotatable in their closed position, preventthe supported pile moving up or down except as the submarine vesselmoves up or down. When the vessel rests on bottom, the submarine islightened and the slips 26 are released, allowing vessel 10 to moveupward at this point and the process is repeated.

The anchor chain 36 is connected to a buoy 38 at the surface on one endand at the other end is connected to a slip 40 which is mounted aboutpile 22. This slip is loosely placed around pile 22 so thatas the pileis drilled in, slip 40 will slide upwardly with respect thereto. Whendrilling operations are finished, slip 40 is actuated so that itsecurely clamps the pile. This can conveniently be accomplished byhaving slip 40 be a hydraulically held-open device e which receiveshydraulic pressure through line 42 from the interior of the vessel. Thishydraulic pressure is released when it is desired that slips engage thepile 22. This is done when the anchor piles have been set and the vessel10 is to be removed. Then the slips 26 are released and rotary table 28retracted. At this time hose 30 is severed in any desired way from thetop of the pile. Water is pumped out of certain tanks within vessel 10and the vessel rises above the top of pile 22 which at this time may beas indicated at line 44 near slips 26. T he'vessel then goes to thesurface where it is loaded with another pile 22 so that the drilling andpile setting operations can be repeated.

Frequently it is desired to obtain cores from the bottom of a body ofwater. This can be accomplished using a modification of the tool, asshown in FIG. 2. There, passage 12 of vessel 10 is modified to haveupper seals 50 and lower seals 52. They can be hydraulically actuatedseals with hydraulic fluid supplied through hoses 50A and 52A. Placed inpassage 12 is a tubular drill member 54 which has a core barrel section56 which is adjacent coring bit 58. Elevator means are provided forraising and lowering the pipe 54. This includes remotely actuatableelevator slips 60 which are raised and lowered by a cable 62 to a drummeans within the vessel 10. As will be seen, a doorway 64 is provided sothat access may be had to passage 12 so that cores from section 52 canbe repeatedly removed without being returned to the surface. A rotarytable 28 is provided below seal 52. Slips 26 are provided the same as inFIG. 1.

In operation, the device in FIG. 2 is maneuvered by an operator to aselected location on the floor of a body of water. There, the device isset down such that bit 58 rests on the floor 23 so that coringoperations can be commenced by rotating preferred that pile 22 be squareas it simplifies its rotation pipe 54. When a sufficient amount of coreis collected into the core barrel section 56, rotation of the pipe isstopped, elevator slips 60 actuated and slips 26 released. The coringassembly is then raised by elevator 60 and cable 62 so that bit 58 isabove seal 52. At this time upper seal 50 is actuated to engage drillpipe 54 and lower sealing means 52 is actuated to close off the lowerend of vertical passage 12. Water is blown out of passage 12 throughconduit 67 by injected high pressure air through port 57 from a sourcewithin vessel 10. Alternatively, the water can be pumped out by amechanical pump, not shownfThis alternate method has the advantage ofhaving the interior .of passage 12 at a low pressure. This is importantif the interior of the vessel is maintained at atmospheric pressure. Nowdoor 64 can be opened and the core from within core barrel S6 removed,labeled and placed inside vessel 10. Door 64 is closed, seals 50 and 52released and the vessel is moved to the next location at which a core isto be recovered.

The upper end of drill pipe 54 can be closed off with a swivel cap 55 asshown in FIG. 2, and a circulating hose and pump are provided but notshown, in vessel 10 in a manner described above for FIG. 1.

While the above embodiments have been shown with a great deal of detail,various modifications thereof can be made without departing from thespirit or scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A mobile subsea self-propelled vessel for performing un derseaoperations in a body of water, which comprises:

means supported by said subsea selfpropelled vessel for propelling andmaneuvering said vessel through said body of water, said propellingbeing operative independent of externally applied force;

a vertical passage extending through said vessel;

means within said vertical passage for supporting a drill pipe therein;and

means for rotating said pipe. 1

2. An apparatus as defined in claim 1 including means for circulatingfluid through said drill pipe.

3. An apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein said means for circulatingfluid includes a water pump having a suction port opening exterior saidvessel, said suction port positioned so that the flow of water thereintoresists reaction in the vessel caused by rotating the drill pipe.

4. An apparatus as defined in claim 1 including an anchor chain and slipmeans connecting said anchor chain to said pipe.

5. An apparatus as defined in claim 1 including a core barrel connectedwithin said drill pipe, means to raise said drill pipe within saidvertical passage and means to isolate the interior of said passage fromthe surrounding water exterior said vessel.

6. An apparatus as defined in claim 1 including means to remove waterfrom the interior of said vertical passage when its interior is isolatedfrom the exterior thereof.

7. An apparatus as defined claim ll including a drill bit on the lowerend of said drill pipe.

8. A subsea vessel for performing undersea or underwater operations,which comprises:

a vertical passage extending through said vessel; means within saidvertical passage for supporting a drill pipe means therein; means forrotating said pipe; means for circulating fluid through said drill pipeincluding a water pump having a suction port opening exterior saidvessel, said suction port positioned so that the flow of water thereintoresists reaction in the vessel caused by rotating the drill pipe. 9. Asubsea vessel for performing undersea or underwater operations, whichcomprises:

a vertical passage extending through said vessel; means within saidvertical passage for supporting a drill pipe means therein; means forrotating said pipe; and an anchor chain and slip means connecting saidanchor chain to said pipe. 10. A subsea vessel for performing underseaoperations, which comprises:

a vertical passage extending through said vessel; means within saidvertical passage for supporting a drill pipe therein; means for rotatingsaid drill pipe; a core barrel connected within said drill pipe;

means to raise said drill pipe within said vertical passage; means toIsolate the interior of said passage from the surrounding water exteriorsaid vessel. 11. A method of setting an anchor in the floor of a body ofwater using a subsea vessel having a vertical passage extendingtherethrough which comprises:

carrying said anchor in said vertical passage to the vicinity of thelocation at which the anchor is to be set; forming a hole at saidlocation and placing said anchor in said hole; connecting an anchorchain to said anchor.

1. A mobile subsea self-propelled vessel for performing underseaoperations in a body of water, which comprises: means supported by saidsubsea self-propelled vessel for propelling and maneuvering said vesselthrough said body of water, said propelling being operative independentof externally applied force; a vertical passage extending through saidvessel; means within said vertical passage for supporting a drill pipetherein; and means for rotating said pipe.
 2. An apparatus as defined inclaim 1 including means for circulating fluid through said drill pipe.3. An apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein said means for circulatingfluid includes a water pump having a suction port opening exterior saidvessel, said suction port positioned so that the flow of water thereintoresists reaction in the vessel caused by rotating the drill pipe.
 4. Anapparatus as defined in claim 1 including an anchor chain and slip meansconnecting said anchor chain to said pipe.
 5. An apparatus as defined inclaim 1 including a core barrel connected within said drill pipe, meansto raise said drill pipe within said vertical passage and means toisolate the interior of said passage from the surrounding water exteriorsaid vessel.
 6. An apparatus as defined in claim 1 including means toremove water from the interior of said vertical passage when itsinterior is isolated from the exterior thereof.
 7. An apparatus asdefined claim 1 including a drill bit on the lower end of said drillpipe.
 8. A subsea vessel for performing undersea or underwateroperations, which comprises: a vertical passage extending throuGh saidvessel; means within said vertical passage for supporting a drill pipemeans therein; means for rotating said pipe; means for circulating fluidthrough said drill pipe including a water pump having a suction portopening exterior said vessel, said suction port positioned so that theflow of water thereinto resists reaction in the vessel caused byrotating the drill pipe.
 9. A subsea vessel for performing undersea orunderwater operations, which comprises: a vertical passage extendingthrough said vessel; means within said vertical passage for supporting adrill pipe means therein; means for rotating said pipe; and an anchorchain and slip means connecting said anchor chain to said pipe.
 10. Asubsea vessel for performing undersea operations, which comprises: avertical passage extending through said vessel; means within saidvertical passage for supporting a drill pipe therein; means for rotatingsaid drill pipe; a core barrel connected within said drill pipe; meansto raise said drill pipe within said vertical passage; means to isolatethe interior of said passage from the surrounding water exterior saidvessel.
 11. A method of setting an anchor in the floor of a body ofwater using a subsea vessel having a vertical passage extendingtherethrough which comprises: carrying said anchor in said verticalpassage to the vicinity of the location at which the anchor is to beset; forming a hole at said location and placing said anchor in saidhole; connecting an anchor chain to said anchor.